Israeli journalist in Portsmouth denounces escalating Hamas violence

PORTSMOUTH — A top Israeli journalist took to the microphone Sunday to denounce the escalating violence occurring in southern Israel at the hands of Hamas militants.

“I don’t know of any other nation in the world that is accepting such a campaign of firing rockets on civilian populations for such an extended period of time,” said Gil Tamary, Washington Bureau Chief of Israel’s Channel 10 News. “They’re terrorizing approximately 1 million people in southern Israel. If I tried to compare this number to the United States this would be equal to 44 million Americans. And think about what the U.S. would do if 44 million Americans couldn’t attend work, school, or needed to run for cover on a daily basis.”

Speaking to a crowd of roughly 50 to 60 listeners at Temple Israel Sunday afternoon, Tamaray touched on a number of critical issues during his speech — some of which included the icy relations of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama, Iran’s continued nuclear ambitions, and the possibility of the region achieving peace and stability in the years ahead.

“It’s not a secret that these two guys don’t like each other very much,” Tamaray said of both Obama and Netanyahu. “There’s certainly no love story between them.” However, Tamaray said that President Obama’s re-election, coupled with the fact most polls indicate Netanyahu will secure another four year’s as Israel’s Prime Minister, indicate the two must figure out ways to push forward in the spirit of compromise.

“They’re stuck together and must therefore find a way to work together,” Tamaray said. “And they need to do it for the best situations for both nations.”

But one factor making things more difficult for both Israel and the U.S. are Iran’s nuclear ambitions — an area Tamaray said both the U.S. and Israel are in complete agreement. Although Tamaray said both countries understand the necessity of preventing Iran’s ability to acquire nuclear weapons, he also indicated the consequences would be far more severe for Israel. “Israel’s ability to handle this threat is limited compared to the U.S.’s,” he said. “Iranian’s are digging their facilities deeper and deeper into the ground — our window of opportunity is becoming very limited.”

And he said that even if an agreement is struck between the U.S. and Iran relative to nuclear arms, the public should still expect a bitter relationship to ensue. “Don’t expect the hostility to change. The same hostility that has been there for more than 30 years will continue,” Tamaray said. “And it will continue because Iran’s ambitions contradict each and every ideal and principal that the U.S. holds.”

Remaining on the subject of Iran, Tamaray continued his discussion by outlining the ways Iran has exerted influence against Israel without acting as a direct player. “The current attacks from Hamas are another example of Iran’s long hand in the region,” Tamaray said. “Right now Iran has two proxies — Hamas on our southern border and Hezbollah on our northern border. And both organizations are getting their weapons and training from Iran.”

Tamaray said that despite the recent barrage of more than 300 rockets fired into southern Israel by Hamas in the last 10 days, Israeli civilians have become disturbingly used to the violence, death, and destruction that occurs in the region. He even went on to play a cell phone recording of an Israeli woman alerting law enforcement of a missile strike that killed a pregnant mother of three and several children in a nearby apartment complex. Despite the tragedy, it was the calmness and normalcy of the woman’s demeanor that Tamaray highlighted.

“In this region of southern Israel this has become a way of life,” he said. “Therefore, I don’t think anyone can criticize us for wanting to bring back a sense of normalcy to our southern border.”

But bringing back this sense of normalcy is the hardest part, especially when Hamas is unwilling to negotiate. “They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity,” Tamry said, eliciting small laughter from the audience. “Or they try and get previous deals that were offered to them. It’s like they’ll be looking for Black Friday deals the next Saturday.”

And when asked by an audience member whether compromise, peace, and stability could eventually be achieved, Tamary was doubtful. “There’s no negotiations available for a group that doesn’t recognize Israel’s right to exist,” he said in reference to Hamas. “Standing in front of you in Portsmouth today, I just don’t have a long-term solution.”

However, he was resolute that despite Iranian-sponsored threats from both Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel would still survive. “They cannot eliminate the state of Israel — they can make our lives unpleasant — but they aren’t posing an existential threat.”